In a conventional computing environment, the user controls physical access to the user's computing systems. The user trusts, to some degree, the hardware and software in its data centers. This trust, combined with physical control of the devices, provides the user with a certain degree of confidence that their computing systems are secure.
In a hosted computing environment, the user typically does not have physical control over the computing systems used to execute the user's applications. The user, in addition to trusting the hardware and software that executes in the hosted computing environment, has no choice but to trust the hosted computing provider not to tamper with or snoop on the user's code and data. The user also trusts the hosted computing provider to provide physical security sufficient to prevent unauthorized persons from removing hard disks or tampering with the system. And users place their trust in the hosted computing provider to prevent third parties from tampering with or stealing their data. A hosted computing provider may therefore incur a certain amount of liability, in the form of guarantees and the like, to encourage users to run their software in the provider's hosted computing environment.